Steam’s summer sale is underway

12 Jul 2012 by Peter Parrish

If you’ve glanced at Steam’s store page recently, you’ll have noticed a lot of crossed out prices with percentages next to them. What can it all mean? It is, of course, the much-anticipated (and speculated about) summer sale.

There is no possible way I can sensibly list and categorise each and every deal, bundle or special offer here, but the general sale types are as follows:

Daily deals: a new set every day from today until 22 July. These refresh every 24 hours.

Pack deals: a big bundle of games, usually under a publisher heading (like ‘THQ Collection’). These should run for the duration of the sale.

Indie bundles: cycling daily, a set of indie games at a discount price.

Flash sales: sales with a lifespan even shorter than the daily deals.

Community choice: gives the Steam community a chance to vote for one of three possible deals, with the winner appearing in the store. Refreshes every eight hours.

Whatever option you go for, you’re guaranteed to buy more games than you can actually play in your lifetime.